Crashed Russian helicopter raised from Arctic seabed

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A Russian helicopter was raised Saturday from the seabed the place it had crashed final month off Norway’s Arctic Svalbard archipelago with eight individuals on board.

Norway’s Accident Investigation Board says not one of the lacking individuals have been contained in the helicopter that went down Oct. 26 close to the Svalbard settlement of Barentsburg. Thus far, just one physique has been recovered from the Mi-eight helicopter’s wreckage, which was situated at a depth of almost 685 ft.

The company says the helicopter’s cockpit voice recorder was discovered when the plane was delivered to the floor early Saturday by a ship outfitted with a sturdy crane. Will probably be despatched to Moscow along with the GPS models from the helicopter for evaluation.

It stated the search continued for the helicopter’s flight knowledge recorder, which had not been discovered, and the lacking crew and passengers.

The helicopter had been carrying 5 crew members and three members from Russia’s Arctic and Antarctic Analysis Institute.

The helicopter went down close to Barentsburg, the archipelago’s second-largest settlement, which is a Russian coal-mining city of about 500 individuals. It got here from the Russian hamlet of Pyramiden, a largely deserted mine that draws some vacationers to see its empty Soviet-period buildings.

“We proceed to comb the coast with individuals from the police and the Purple Cross,” stated Gunnar Johansen, a spokesman for the native governor.

Because the crash, greater than one hundred fifty individuals have searched greater than 200 kilometers (124 miles) of coastal areas — some locations twice, in line with the governor’s web site.

Beneath a world 1920 treaty, Norway has sovereignty over Svalbard, which is 500 miles north of its mainland. Different signatory nations have rights to take advantage of the archipelago’s pure assets, together with Russia.

Previously generally known as Spitzbergen, the archipelago is understood for beautiful snow-coated mountains, fjords and glaciers.